


The Interview

by Dracona_Rex



Series: Portals to Aytolis [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 06:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18654409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dracona_Rex/pseuds/Dracona_Rex
Summary: Leo has finally taken on a retainer. Xander, returning from the kingdom's border, tracks Niles down for a private interview.





	The Interview

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short prequel/bonus supplement to chapter one of [Space-Time Distortions](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18642586), although it can certainly be read alone.

Crown Prince Xander of Nohr had been busy at the border for months, much to his recent chagrin. Although he would never fail in his duty to his kingdom or his father, he had received news from home that he longed to return and investigate. When he finally received orders to report to Castle Krakenburg again, he was glad to follow them. 

Not that he would ever dream of questioning his father’s wisdom, of course. 

The King had to make decisions not only for his family but for the good of all of Nohr, setting an example that Xander strove to follow, since he often felt torn between the two himself. One day in the distant future the crown would pass to him, and he needed to be ready. 

In the meantime, however, he had his duties as the heir. 

After several meetings discussing the situation along the kingdom’s border, he finally had a few free hours to pursue his personal investigation. Xander’s younger brother Leo had apparently taken a retainer into service, after years of assertively proving that he was more than capable of attending to _his_ duties alone. 

It had therefore become Xander’s priority to find and evaluate the new retainer. 

By all accounts, Niles was a young man with a terrible reputation. 

Having heard that he also possessed a bow, the first place that Xander went looking was at the archery range. There he found a white-haired, brown-skinned young man lounging against the fence, with his weapon unstrung and leaning against the fence beside him. 

Every target on the range sported a cluster of arrows at their centres, but instead of collecting them the young man’s attention was on the adjacent courtyard. A squadron of wyvern riders had landed there, stripped out of their battle armour, and started washing down their mounts. 

Xander joined the young man at the fence, pointedly looking back down the archery range instead of towards the adjacent courtyard. As he approached, the man’s hand went to a neatly-concealed dagger at his waist, hovering there until he turned to identify his new companion. 

He moved his hand away again, bowing deeply in greeting. 

“Crown Prince Xander, I presume,” he drawled. 

“Niles,” Xander replied, waiting for the one-eyed archer to straighten before continuing, “you and I should talk.” 

“Your majesty isn’t here for the scenery?” Niles asked, and Xander regarded him coldly. 

“Follow me,” he instructed, turning back towards the castle. 

He led Niles to his nearest study, a little clerking office close to the stables that he’d taken over for reviewing the reports that collected every time he went out for a ride. Since he wanted to encourage his brother’s new retainer to speak openly with him, a room less imposing than his main study in his personal chambers was ideal. 

“Please,” he said, mostly as a matter of function while he moved around behind his desk, “take a seat.” 

“Your majesty,” Niles replied, closing the door and moving closer to the chair across from the desk, but not looking any more inclined to sit down than Xander felt. 

Well, leadership was so often a matter of example. 

“I imagine you have some idea of why I wish to speak with you,” Xander began, sitting down behind the desk. He felt a flash of satisfaction when the archer finally took a seat in the other chair, leaning his bow against the side. 

Technically Niles lounged more than he sat, but at least it was a start. 

“Because I’ve been brought into the service of your majesty’s brother,” Niles stated. 

“Precisely,” the crown prince confirmed. 

“I have already been spoken to by Princess Camilla, your majesty,” Niles volunteered. 

“And how did that go?” Xander asked, intending to corroborate his story with Camilla’s later. 

Unfortunately both of the Nohrian princesses were away on missions of their own at the moment, and Xander had not been able to learn his sisters’ opinions of Niles in advance. His youngest brother Corrin was never brought to the castle at all, of course, and presumably knew even less of the new retainer than Xander himself. 

“Her highness stared at me for two minutes and then said ‘I suppose you’ll do’,” the archer reported. “Highlight of my week, your majesty.” 

That did sound about right for Camilla. 

“My correct address is also ’your highness’, but you needn’t use it every time,” Xander suggested generously. The conversation would go much faster without quite so much propriety from such an unlikely source. 

“As you say, your majesty,” Niles replied, so Xander set that aside for the time being. 

“Tell me, in your opinion, what value do you offer my brother?” Xander asked. 

Niles shrugged slightly. 

“I’m just a street mongrel my Lord Leo saw fit to rescue from the gutter, your majesty,” he replied. “But like any good dog, I’m loyal.” 

Rescuing someone by bringing them into service didn’t seem particularly in character for Leo, so there was almost certainly more to it than that. On the other hand, Xander had wound up taking Peri on as his retainer in a somewhat similar circumstance, so perhaps he was in no position to be critical. 

Even now, at the memory of the first time he’d met her, his pulse began to race with anger and it took all of his effort to remain in control of himself. That anyone could keep a child in such conditions, and use her for such a purpose... 

Xander had _not_ been merciful. 

Afterwards she’d refused to leave his side, devoting herself to killing for his sake the way that he had unhesitatingly killed for hers. He still hoped that one day she would be able to see beyond the trauma of her past and recognise that he was motivated by justice, not bloodlust, but he could never dictate that to her. All he could do was continue as he’d promised, and protect her. 

Calming himself, Xander directed his thoughts back to the matter at hand. 

The situation was unlikely to be comparable, but perhaps something equally compelling had transpired. _Something_ significant must have happened, for Niles to have earned Leo’s trust. And since the only rumour of it that Xander had heard had been a dubious one, perhaps Niles was as good at keeping secrets as Leo was. 

_Have an obvious truth and an obvious lie for people to find, and most won’t bother to look any deeper,_ Leo had once told Xander. _They just want a story they can tell themselves that explains everything_ _away._

“The story is that you were hired to kill him, but he spared you,” Xander observed, following this train of thought. 

It was quite an unlikely story, since those who tried to kill the royal siblings of Nohr and failed in their mission did not usually live to speak of the attempt. 

“That’s the story, your majesty,” Niles agreed cheerfully, neither confirming nor denying it. “I might have asked him for death, but my lord chose to offer me another life instead.” 

He paused, meeting Xander’s gaze directly as very few people did. 

“A better one than I ever had before, your majesty,” he said. “I’ll never forget what I owe him, and if my lord asked it...” 

Niles trailed off into silence. 

“What are you willing to do for my brother?” Xander enquired pointedly. 

“Anything, your majesty,” Niles replied with absolute conviction, and then grinned like he’d thought of something that only he found amusing. “Except perhaps assassinate his king, something my lord would _never_ ask me.” 

“Of course not,” Xander agreed. 

He was mildly horrified that the archer had even thought of the idea. Leo would never want to kill their father. Xander refused to believe that any of his siblings ever could. 

“Your majesty, is there anything else _you_ would ask of me?” Niles wondered, still grinning. 

Xander remained silent for a moment, considering. 

It was not his place to decide whether or not to allow Niles to serve as his brother’s retainer. That choice was Leo’s, and Xander trusted that his brother had made it carefully, even if he personally did not understand his brother’s reasons. 

All he had wanted was to take a measure of the new retainer, and he had done that. As he would have in any case, he would continue to pay attention to the younger man’s loyalty, and judge him according to his actions. 

“I have no further questions,” Xander decided, rising to his feet. The archer immediately stood up as well, as Xander walked back around his desk. “My brother has placed a lot of trust in you, and I trust him. Do not disappoint either of us.” 

He held out his hand, offering either an arm clasp or a handshake to seal this agreement, whichever Niles preferred. Instead, Niles took Xander’s fingertips in both hands and dropped to one knee, gaze to the floor. 

“My oath, your majesty,” he promised quietly. 

“It will not be forgotten,” Xander assured him, when the archer seemed to be waiting for a response. 

Recognising that this was also a dismissal, Niles released the crown prince’s hand and stood up, collecting his bow on his way out of the study. Xander crossed to the door and closed it against any interruptions, spending another moment in reflection. 

He did not need to understand why Leo had taken Niles as a retainer, although he would still prefer it. More importantly, at least Xander’s brother finally had someone that he trusted who could fulfil a retainer’s duties. 

Perhaps the most important of which was simply staying on watch while Leo slept. 

Xander had been around when his brother had experimented with magically avoiding the need for sleep, and he would never be able to forget how those experiments had ended. They had, however, impressed on the precocious young prince that for some matters nature had to be allowed to follow her own course. 

And for other matters, Xander’s siblings had to be allowed to follow theirs. 

He trusted them, even when their decisions puzzled him, and that trust was enough to satisfy him. Returning to his desk, he sat down again to face the new pile of reports that had been delivered during his brief absence from the study. 

His duty, as always, awaited him. 

***

“I met your elder brother today, my lord,” Niles reported, returning to Prince Leo’s rooms to find his liege still reading at his desk. 

Earlier that morning the mage prince had collected a significant pile of books, setting himself the task of reading them by the end of the day. Although he had formed a second pile of completed volumes and was making good progress, he was by no means finished. 

“I didn’t realise he’d speak to you first,” Leo remarked, looking up from his book with both eyebrows fractionally raised. “Perhaps I’d better have a word with him.” 

“That may be unnecessary, my lord,” Niles replied, shaking his head slightly. “I believe we have reached... an understanding.” 

Leo’s eyebrows raised a little further. A moment later he shrugged delicately, nodded, and immediately returned his focus to his reading. He said nothing further until Niles approached the desk a while later, intending to collect the pile of finished books for reshelving. 

“Niles?” he said, without looking up. 

“My lord?” Niles asked. 

“Don’t ever speak to Xander without me again,” Leo ordered. 

“Aye, my lord,” Niles promised.


End file.
